and international organisations under the
Belt and Road framework, including Greece,
Poland, Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Egypt and Argentina.
Besides the bilateral and multilateral deals
reached during the summit, China made
new pledges to further boost funding for the
project, including an additional 100 billion
yuan (US$14.5bn) into the Silk Road Fund.
In the meantime, the China Development
Bank and China’s Export-Import Bank will
set up new lending schemes of 250 billion
yuan (US$36.2bn) and 130 billion yuan
(US$18.8bn) respectively, for relevant Belt
and Road projects. China also pledged to
provide 60 billion yuan (US$8.7bn) in devel-
opment aid in the next three years to coun-
tries along the Belt and Road region.
‘A Multilateral Platform’
For many Chinese experts, by gathering
leaders around the world and having a multi-
lateral summit focusing on the Belt and Road
initiative, the biggest achievement of the fo-
rum is to move the project from being just a
China-led initiative to a multilateral one.
Since launching the initiative, China has
been emphasising the co-operative and “win-
win” nature of the Belt and Road, though
there have been concerns, especially from the
Western countries, regarding China’s geopo-
litical ambitions.
In recent years, instead of projecting the
initiative to other countries, China has at-
tempted to link the Belt and Road with
development projects launched by relevant
countries themselves to minimise the strate-
gic concerns over China’s objectives.
In his speech addressed to the opening
ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum, Xi
reiterated that the initiative is built upon
principles of “peace and cooperation,” “open-
ness and inclusiveness,” “mutual learning”
and “mutual benefit.” Xi said that China has
managed to align the Belt and Road with
the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union,
Poland’s Amber Road and Turkey’s Middle
Road, as well as with projects launched by
ASEAN, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam
and the UK.
China has also linked the Belt and Road
initiative to the United Nations’ 2030 Agen-
da for Sustainable Development Coopera-
tion. Among the various cooperation docu-
ments released by the Belt and Road Forum
is the Promoting Unimpeded Trade Coopera-
tion along the Belt and Road signed between
China and some 60 countries and interna-
tional organisations.
According to Zhang Yunling, Director of
the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, efforts
like these have gradually transformed the Belt
and Road from a Chinese initiative to a mul-
tilateral concept.
“In the past, the Belt and Road was pri-
marily considered a Chinese project, but now
with multilateral agreements including those
with international organisation such as the
UN Development Programme, it is more
and more accepted as a multilateral regional
platform, if not a global one,” Zhang told
ChinaReport.
“The platform is not only open to Eurasian
countries, but also open to countries in other
regions. For example, Latin American coun-
tries can also conduct infrastructure projects
under the Belt and Road framework,” Zhang
added.
Besides Brazil, a founding member of the
AIIB, Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile are the
latest South American countries to join the
AIIB. Following the Belt and Road forum,
Argentina also voiced its intention to join the
AIIB.Globalisation 2.0?
With its openness and inclusiveness, Chi-
nese experts have even argued that the Belt
and Road initiative has the potential to be-
come a platform to reform the current model
of globalisation.
Against the backdrop of rising protection-
ism around the globe, especially in the US
with Donald Trump assuming the presiden-
cy, China has in recent months highlighted
its role as a global defender of free trade and
globalisation.
In January this year at the World Econom-
ic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Xi called for
countries to work together to tackle trade is-
sues. “One should not just retreat to the har-
bour when encountering a storm, for this will
never get us to the other shore of the ocean,”Xi said during his speech delivered at the fo-
rum, “We must redouble efforts to develop
global connectivity to enable all countries to
achieve inter-connected growth and share
prosperity.”
Xi then raised the Belt and Road Forum,
which he said would “explore ways to address
problems facing global and regional econo-
mies, create fresh energy for pursuing inter-
connected development.”
In the joint communique signed during
the Belt and Road Forum, the 30 world lead-
ers reiterated their commitment to globalisa-
tion and free trade. “We reaffirm our shared
commitment to building an open economy,
ensure free and inclusive trade, oppose all
forms of protectionism,” reads the commu-
nique and that it “can create opportunities
amidst challenges and changes... and has
future potential to deliver more benefits as an
important international initiative.”
“With a principle of inclusiveness, theChinese President Xi jinping declares the opening
of the Leaders’ Roundtable Summit at the Belt and
Road Forum for International CooperationPhoto by cns